Spatter removing device for laser welder

ABSTRACT

A spatter removing device for a laser welder including an optic head to which a laser beam is transferred through an optic fiber from a laser oscillator, a cross jet mounted at one side of a lower end portion of the optic head, a safety cover provided at the outside of the optic head so as to surround the optic head, and a material injection unit that injects a material to be welded below the optic head, the device includes a discharge unit and a spatter cooling device. The discharge unit is provided with a discharge pipe that discharges a welding gas and the spatter at one side portion of the safety cover. The spatter cooling device is connected to the discharge pipe and cools the spatter so that the spatter is forcibly collected.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application makes reference to, incorporates the same herein, andclaims all benefits accruing under 35 U.S.C. §119 from an applicationearlier filed in the Korean Intellectual Property Office on Mar. 16,2011 and there duly assigned Serial No. 10-2011-0023346.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention generally relates to a spatter removing device fora laser welder.

2. Description of the Related Art

In industrial fields, laser beams having excellent results in terms ofcost reduction, factory automation and quality improvement have recentlybeen applied to cutting, welding and heat treatment of a metallicmaterial, and the like. Some objects required in application of thelaser beams are uniformity of laser beam energy distribution, laserpower control capable of maintaining a certain heat treatmenttemperature, optimal laser beam irradiation speed capable of satisfyingproductivity and quality, maximization of energy absorptivity, and thelike.

The above information disclosed in this Related Art section is only forenhancement of understanding of the background of the invention andtherefore it may contain information that does not form the prior artthat is already known to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention provide for a spatterremoving device for a laser welding, in which spatter generated inwelding of a material to be welded using a welder is cooled, collectedand removed, so that it is possible to prevent the occurrence of afailure of the material to be welded and to maintain the interior of awelding chamber to be always clean.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there may be provided aspatter removing device for a laser welder comprising an optic head towhich a laser beam is transferred through an optic fiber from a laseroscillator, a cross jet mounted at one side of a lower end portion ofthe optic head, a safety cover provided at the outside of the optic headso as to surround the optic head, and a material injection unit thatinjects a material to be welded below the optic head, the devicecomprising: a discharge unit provided with a discharge pipe thatdischarges a welding gas and the spatter at one side portion of thesafety cover; and a spatter cooling device connected to the dischargepipe, the spatter cooling device cooling the spatter so that the spatteris forcibly collected.

The spatter cooling device may have a ring shape and polygonal ringshape. The spatter cooling device may be integrally connected to thedischarge pipe or may be coaxially connected to the discharge pipe.

The spatter cooling device may be provided with a gas injection holeformed in an outer circumferential surface thereof, a nozzle formed inan inner circumferential surface thereof to spray a cooling gas injectedfrom the gas injection hole, and an internal channel that connects thecooling gas injection hole and the nozzle.

The spatter removing device may further include a cooling gas supplyingdevice connected to the cooling gas injection hole. The cooling gassupplying device may supply an inert gas.

The cooling gas may be sprayed in a front direction by the nozzle. Thecooling gas may be sprayed toward the direction in which the spatter isdischarged by the nozzle.

The nozzle may have a slit shape or cylindrical shape.

The spatter removing device may further include a collection unitconnected to the discharge pipe so as to collector the spatter cooled bythe cooling gas and then discharged.

The spatter cooling device may be provided with a plurality of spattercooling devices.

As described above, according to embodiments of the present invention,spatter generated in welding of a material to be welded using a welderis cooled, collected and removed, so that it is possible to prevent theoccurrence of a failure of the material to be welded and to maintain theinterior of a welding chamber to be always clean.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete appreciation of the invention, and many of the attendantadvantages thereof, will be readily apparent as the same becomes betterunderstood by reference to the following detailed description whenconsidered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which likereference symbols indicate the same or similar components, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an entire configuration view of a spatter removing device fora laser welder according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a use state view of the spatter removing device according tothe embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of portion I in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 3 viewed in the lengthdirection of a discharge pipe, for illustrating an operational principleof a spatter cooling device according to the embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 5A is a perspective view of the spatter cooling device according tothe embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5B is a sectional perspective view showing an internal structure ofFIG. 5A.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the spatter removingdevice according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the following detailed description, only certain exemplaryembodiments of the present invention have been shown and described,simply by way of illustration. As those skilled in the art wouldrealize, the described embodiments may be modified in various differentways, all without departing from the spirit or scope of the presentinvention. Accordingly, the drawings and description are to be regardedas illustrative in nature and not restrictive. In addition, when anelement is referred to as being “on” another element, it can be directlyon the another element or be indirectly on the another element with oneor more intervening elements interposed therebetween. Also, when anelement is referred to as being “connected to” another element, it canbe directly connected to another element or be indirectly connected tothe another element with one or more intervening elements interposedtherebetween. Hereinafter, like reference numerals refer to likeelements.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Asused herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify thepresence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements,and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of oneor more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements,components, and/or groups thereof.

Recognizing that sizes and thicknesses of constituent members shown inthe accompanying drawings are arbitrarily given for better understandingand ease of description, the present invention is not limited to theillustrated sizes and thicknesses.

In order to clarify the present invention, elements extrinsic to thedescription are omitted from the details of this description, and likereference numerals refer to like elements throughout the specification.

In several exemplary embodiments, constituent elements having the sameconfiguration are representatively described in a first exemplaryembodiment by using the same reference numeral and only constituentelements other than the constituent elements described in the firstexemplary embodiment will be described in other embodiments.

Generally, a laser welder for performing laser beam applicationtreatment including laser welding and the like is provided with an optichead having an optical system including a focus lens for increasing theenergy density of laser beams, and the like. The optic head uses an aircurtain formed through a cross jet, which blocks spatter scattered ontoa lower end portion of the optic head, so as to prevent opticalcomponents of the optic head from being damaged by the spatter(scattered sparks and dusts) that is a processing byproduct produced inprocessing.

In embodiments of the present invention, a laser welder among welderswill be described as an example. However, the spatter removing device ofthe present invention is not limited to the laser welder but may beapplied to generally used welders.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described indetail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Generally, the configuration of a fixed laser welder will be brieflydescribed. The fixed laser welder is provided with an optic head towhich a laser beam is transferred through an optic fiber from a laseroscillator, and a cross jet is mounted at one side of a lower endportion of the optic head.

A safety cover subjected to plating treatment using an aluminum materialis configured to form a welding chamber at an outside of the optic head.Here, a bottom of the safety cover may be opened, and one side of thesafety cover is connected to a fixing portion. The safety cover protectsan operator from spatter and laser beam, generated in a laser weldingoperation.

A material injector may be provided below the optic head. Here, thematerial injector is configured as a pneumatic cylinder that loads amaterial to be welded and injects the loaded material into the weldingchamber.

Accordingly, if the material to be welded is injected into the weldingchamber through the material injector, laser welding may be performed byirradiating a laser beam onto a welding portion of the material to bewelded through optic head. In this instance, the cross jet forms an aircurtain below the optic head by spraying air at a high speed so thatspatter generated and scattered at the welding portion of the materialto be welded does not damage an optic component of the optic head. Thecross jet also blows the scattered spatter toward the safety cover.

However, although the optical component of the optic head can beprotected from the spatter scattered by the cross jet through theconfiguration of the conventional fixed laser welder described above,the spatter blown toward the safety cover is accumulated in the weldingchamber and surrounds, and therefore, becomes a cause of thecontamination of the operational environment. Furthermore, the spatterfalls again on the welding portion of the material to be welded, andtherefore, welding quality is deteriorated, and the like.

In order to solve such problems, FIG. 1 is an entire configuration viewof a spatter removing device for a laser welder according to anembodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a use state view of thespatter removing device according to the embodiment of the presentinvention.

The spatter removing device 100 for the laser welder according to thisembodiment may be provided with an optic head 103 that irradiates alaser beam B transferred through an optic fiber 101 from a laseroscillator (not shown) onto a material S to be welded, and a cross jet105 is mounted at one side of a lower end portion of the optic head 103.

A safety cover 107 that surrounds the optic head 103 may be mounted atan outside of the optic head 103. The safety cover 107 subjected toplating treatment using an aluminum material may be mainly used, and oneside of the safety cover 107 may be fixed to a fixing portion.

The safety cover 107 may be configured in the state that its bottom isopened, and the inside of the safety cover 107 forms a welding chamber111 so as to protect an operator from spatter P and laser beam B,generated in a laser welding operation.

A material injection unit 113 may be disposed below the optic head 103.The material injection unit 113 includes a loading die 119 on which thematerial S to be welded is loaded, a lifting cylinder 115 that allowsthe material S to be welded to be injected into the welding chamber 111,and a lower cover 117 mounted on a front end of the loading die 119connected to the lifting cylinder 115 so as to close the opening at thebottom of the safety cover 107. Here, the loading die 119 may beintegrally formed with the lower cover 117 on the lower cover 117.

Meanwhile, a discharge unit 120 provided with a discharge pipe 121 usedto discharge a welding gas and the spatter P may be connected to oneside portion of the safety cover 107. The other side of the dischargeunit 120 may be fixed to a fixing unit 109′.

A spatter cooling device 123 connected to the discharge pipe 121 so asto forcibly collect the spatter P is provided at an entrance portion ofthe discharge pipe 121. Here, the spatter cooling device 123 may beintegrally connected to the discharge pipe 121, and may be coaxiallyconnected to the discharge pipe 121.

Hereinafter, the spatter cooling device according to the embodiment ofthe present invention will be described in detail with reference toFIGS. 2 to 5B.

FIG. 2 is a use state view of the spatter removing device according tothe embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is an enlarged view ofportion I in FIG. 2. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 3 viewedin the length direction of a discharge pipe, for illustrating anoperational principle of a spatter cooling device according to theembodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5A is a perspective view ofthe spatter cooling device according to the embodiment of the presentinvention. FIG. 5B is a sectional perspective view showing an internalstructure of FIG. 5A.

Referring to FIG. 5A, the spatter cooling device 123 may be formed tohave a ring shape or polygonal ring shape. If the spatter cooling device123 is formed to have the ring shape or polygonal ring shape accordingto the shape of the discharge pipe 121, it is easy for the spattercooling device 123 to be coaxially connected to the discharge pipe 121.

Referring to FIG. 5B, the spatter cooling device 123 is provided with agas injection hole 123 a (see FIG. 5A) formed in an outercircumferential surface thereof, a nozzle 123 c formed in an innercircumferential surface thereof to spray a cooling gas injected from thegas injection hole 123 a, and an internal channel 123 b that connectsthe cooling gas injection hole 123 a and the nozzle 123 c. Here, acooling gas supplying device 123 d is connected to the cooling gasinjection hole 123 a. The cooling gas supplying device 123 d may supplyan inert gas, and the inert gas may be any one selected from the groupof cooling nitrogen, argon, helium and carbon dioxide.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the cooling gas may be sprayed in a frontdirection by the nozzle 123 c so as to cool the spatter P. However, thecooling gas is preferably sprayed toward the direction in which thespatter P is discharged by the nozzle 123 c so that the spatter P can beeffectively cooled before it is discharged to the discharge pipe 121.

In the spatter removing device 100 for the laser welder having aconfiguration described above, the nozzle 123 c may have a slit shape orcylindrical shape. The spatter removing device 100 for the laser weldermay be further provided with a collection device 125 that collects thespatter P cooled and discharged through the configuration describedabove. Here, oil may be further provided to the collection device 125 soas to prevent the cooled and collected spatter P from being scatteredagain.

Meanwhile, although not shown in these figures, the spatter removingdevice 100 for the laser welder according to this embodiment may beprovided with a filter system that forms a pressure gradient so that thespatter P may be discharged in the direction of the discharge pipe 121from an outside of the lower portion of the safety cover 107. The filtersystem prevents the generated spatter P from being scattered in theopposite direction of the discharge pipe 121. In addition, the weldinggas in the safety cover 107 may be also discharged in the direction ofthe discharge pipe 127 by the filter system. The discharged welding gasmay be discharged to the exterior of the spatter removing device 100through a discharge fan 129 in the state that fine foreign matters arefiltered from the welding gas through a filter 127.

The spatter cooling device 123 may be provided with a plurality ofspatter cooling devices depending on user's demands, and a commercialvortex tube may be used as the spatter cooling device 123.

Hereinafter, the cooling principle of the vortex tube will briefly bedescribed.

The vortex tube may be a cooling device that can generate ultralow-temperature air immediately when compressed air is supplied thereto.If the compressed air is supplied to the vortex tube through a pipe, itmay be injected into a vortex rotary chamber so as to be rotated at anultrafast speed. The rotary air (primary vortex) advances toward awarm-air exit. Here, a portion of the air may be discharged to thewarm-air exit by a regulation valve, and the rest of the air is returnedat the regulation valve so as to be discharged to a cool-air exit whileforming a secondary vortex. In this instance, the flow of the secondaryvortex loses its calorie while passing through a region having a lowerpressure than the flow of the primary vortex, which is located at aninside of the flow of the primary vortex, and advances toward thecool-air exit. In two flows of rotary air, air particles in the internalflow has the same time when it is rotated once as air particles in theexternal flow, and therefore, the flow speed of the internal flow isactually lower than that of the external flow. The difference betweenthe flow speeds means that kinetic energy is decreased. The lost kineticenergy is converted into heat to increase the temperature of the air inthe external flow, and therefore, the temperature of the air in theinternal flow is further decreased.

The operation of the spatter removing device 100 for the laser welderconfigured as described above will be described. As shown in FIGS. 2 and6, the material S to be welded is loaded on the loading die 119 (S1). Inthis state, an operator turns on an operational switch (S2), and thelifting cylinder 115 is operated and lifted. Then, the loading die 119is lifted together with the lower cover 117, so that the material S tobe welded may be injected into the welding chamber 111 as shown in FIG.2 (S3).

In this state, the laser oscillator is oscillated so as to generate thelaser beam B of FIG. 2 (S4). Next, the laser beam B transferred throughthe optic fiber 101 is irradiated onto the welding portion of thematerial S to be welded through the optic head 103, thereby performinglaser welding.

In this instance, the spatter P generated and scattered from the weldingportion of the material S to be welded is dropped in the direction oflower cover 117 from the inside of the safety cover 107 by the aircurtain formed below the optic head 103, and is cooled by the spattercooling device 123 at the entrance portion of the discharge pipe 121while being again discharged in the direction of the discharge pipe 121by the filter system (S5). Since the spatter P is a high-temperaturewelding residue, it may cause a fire in the pipe, and the like. Such aproblem may be prevented in advance by the spatter cooling device 123according to this embodiment.

The spatter P cooled through the aforementioned principle is collectedby the collection device 125 (S6). As described above, the oil may befurther provided to the collection device 125 so as to prevent thecooled and collected spatter P from being scattered again.

As described above, the welding gas in the safety cover 107 is alsodischarged in the direction of the discharge pipe 121 by the filtersystem, and may be discharged to the spatter removing device 100 throughthe discharge fan 129 in the state that fine foreign matters arefiltered from the welding gas through the filter 127.

According to the embodiments of the present invention, it is possible toprovide a spatter removing device for a welder, in which spattergenerated in welding of a material to be welded using the welder iscooled, collected and removed, so that it is possible to prevent afailure of the material to be welded and maintain the interior of awelding chamber to be always clean.

While the present invention has been described in connection withcertain exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the inventionis not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, isintended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangementsincluded within the spirit and scope of the appended claims, andequivalents thereof.

1. A spatter removing device for a laser welder including an optic headto which a laser beam is transferred through an optic fiber from a laseroscillator, a cross jet mounted at one side of a lower end portion ofthe optic head, a safety cover provided at the outside of the optic headso as to surround the optic head, and a material injection unit thatinjects a material to be welded below the optic head, the device,comprising: a discharge unit provided with a discharge pipe thatdischarges a welding gas and the spatter at one side portion of thesafety cover; and a spatter cooling device connected to the dischargepipe, the spatter cooling device cooling the spatter so that the spatteris forcibly collected.
 2. The device according to claim 1, wherein thespatter cooling device is integrally connected to the discharge pipe. 3.The device according to claim 2, wherein the spatter cooling device iscoaxially connected to the discharge pipe.
 4. The device according toclaim 1, wherein the spatter cooling device has a ring shape orpolygonal ring shape.
 5. The device according to claim 4, wherein thespatter cooling device is provided with a gas injection hole formed inan outer circumferential surface thereof, a nozzle formed in an innercircumferential surface thereof to spray a cooling gas injected from thegas injection hole, and an internal channel that connects the coolinggas injection hole and the nozzle.
 6. The device according to claim 5,further comprising a cooling gas supplying device connected to thecooling gas injection hole.
 7. The device according to claim 6, whereinthe cooling gas supplying device supplies an inert gas.
 8. The deviceaccording to claim 5, wherein the cooling gas is sprayed in a frontdirection by the nozzle.
 9. The device according to claim 5, wherein thecooling gas is sprayed toward the direction in which the spatter isdischarged by the nozzle.
 10. The device according to claim 5, whereinthe nozzle has a slit shape or cylindrical shape.
 11. The deviceaccording to claim 5, further comprising a collection unit connected tothe discharge pipe so as to collector the spatter cooled by the coolinggas and then discharged.
 12. The device according to claim 1, whereinthe spatter cooling device is provided with a plurality of spattercooling devices.
 13. A spatter removing device for a laser welder,comprising: an optic head to which a laser beam is transferred throughan optic fiber from a laser oscillator; a cross-jet mounted at one sideof a lower end portion of the optic head; a safety cover providedsurrounding an exterior of the optic head; a material injection unitthat injects a material to be welded below the optic head; a dischargeunit having a collection device and a discharge pipe having a fan thatdischarges a welding gas and the spatter at one side portion of thesafety cover; and a spatter cooling device connected to the dischargepipe, the spatter cooling device cooling the spatter so that the spatteris forcibly collected in the collection device, said collection deviceis disposed between the spatter cooling device and the discharge pipe.